Loaded gun in airport, TSA says it’s OK

A man who carried a loaded gun past the security checkpoint went back and informed security of the incident. He got misdemeanor charges for his honesty (who says that’s the best policy???), and the TSA says, “We know this is not a systemic problem”. I’m not sure how they can say that based simply on an absence of people turning themselves in to face criminal charges, and I’m not sure why anybody would believe them. Just remember the next time they take your fingernail clippers what a good job they are doing of protecting us all.

Comments

Honesty is often not the best policy. To be clear, lying is not the right approach either.

Rather, the best approach is often to ideally steer clear of law enforcement – say as little as possible; use one’s right to remain silent without proper representation present.

In this instance, since this guy had already cleared security, likely the best option, assuming it was a domestic flight that he didn’t want to miss, was to simply say nothing, get to his detination, and count his lucky stars to have not been stopped.

Alternatively, he could have simply turned around and exited the airport without saying anything – stored the gun properly in his car, etc, and then re-entered the airport sans the gun.

What he did was showup the TSA … that was simply asking for trouble – the agency is going to save face by blaming him – that was so predictable.

Let this be a lesson to others – if you get through security with something forbidden … don’t report it – deal with the matter discreetly yourself.

How the hell do you “forget” you’re carrying a loaded weapon? In my opinion, if you can’t remember what you’ve packed, you shouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun, own a gun, or ride on an airplane without an adult supervisor.

@Stranger: I can see where you’re coming from, but trust me… some people can forget just about anything under the right circumstances. I’m one of them. Absent-mindedness doesn’t make one unsafe to carry.

…and the point of the story was the absurdity of the TSA claiming it’s not a widespread problem just because more people don’t go back and say, “Hey, you let me through with this, but I’m not supposed to have it.”